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2016, 192p, Middle-Grade Action/Adventure
My Rating=5 Stars
Source: Received a copy from the publisher for an honest review
An epic adventure—that’s all Bryce wants this summer. So when he stumbles upon a treasure map connected to an old family secret, Bryce is determined to follow the clues to unearth both, even it means hiking in the wilderness in the middle of nowhere. Bryce must work with his bickering brother, Jack, or they may never see the light of day again!
This is the story of two brothers, Bryce and his older brother Jack. Their parents have been fighting a lot and they are getting ready to go spend some time with their grandfather in his cabin at Lure Lake. Before they leave, Bryce heads out to his grandfather's barn and finds a treasure map, which he stuffs in his backpack to investigate later.
This story is told from both Bryce and Jack's point of view. Jack is older and is into technology and girls and is not excited about this trip at all. The cabin takes hours to hike to and there's no cell service. He doesn't take it easy on Bryce, either, by finding the toughest paths to follow and letting him know he's annoyed with him.
Bryce has his secret treasure map and he knows the treasure is connected to the cabin. He has to be sneaky to figure out where it is, though, since he doesn't want to let Jack in on it. He feels bad for keeping it from his grandfather but he knows he needs to find the treasure on his own. We also learn how each boy feels about their parent's rocky marriage and what they feel they need to do to help.
They move along in their adventure until something happens that changes everything. The boys must work together and they each learn what is truly important to them. There are some secrets revealed which can either tear their family apart or bring it together.
I loved this book! Jack and Bryce are very different from each other but they are both likable, especially as we learn more about them. Their relationship is realistic, both before and after "the event." This story is so much more than just a wilderness adventure and is a book that middle schoolers (and adults) will certainly enjoy!
Guest Post:
Inspiration Behind Treasure at Lure Lake
When you sit down to write a book, usually the idea doesn’t just pop into your mind, fully formed, for the first time. The inspiration behind Treasure at Lure Lake came from several different sources. Immediately, I knew I wanted to write a book that my preteen/teenage sons would hopefully love. I wanted to write a fun adventure that would be friendly to reluctant readers like they were. So, I set out to write something that would capture their imagination and sense of adventure and maybe a bit of each of their hearts along the way.
I was also inspired by survival adventure books I’d enjoyed reading such as Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and Peak by Roland Smith. As a school librarian, I had also seen students flock toward certain adventure books. I wanted to write something along those lines that would be exciting and fun to read.
However, I’m not sure I would have been attracted to writing an adventure book in the first place if I hadn’t been raised on family vacations in the Rocky Mountains. My family, led by my fearless father, enjoyed creating our own adventures in the mountains. We could often be found traversing rocky cliffs along mountain rivers, exploring abandoned mines and old mine shafts, bush-whacking our way to the next great picnic spot and wading through raging rivers—well, they seemed raging to us as children, at least! I wanted to share this sense of adventure when I set out to write Treasure at Lure Lake.
1 comments:
Thank you for having me, Melanie!
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